Latin Beat Reviews - Reseña

Latin Beat Magazine, Feb, 2002 by Luis Tamargo, Jesse Varela, Gilbert Rivera, Rudy Mangual

Recorded in October 2001, in La Habana, Cuba, for the Spanish label Envidia (from Barcelona), Estrellas Cubanas is one of the pioneering groups of Cuban dance music. The group was founded by Félix Reina in 1959, after he resumed the leadership of what was the group Fajardo y Sus Estrellas. After a tour across Japan in 1959, José Fajardo left Cuba and relocated to the United States, thus relinquishing most of his band to Reina. The first singers of the group were the Calzado Brothers (Luis, Sergio, and Rudy). Rudy Calzado would soon thereafter immigrate to the United States following in the steps of Fajardo. The group enjoyed many hit songs throughout four decades that included La Escoba Barrendera, El Teléfono Frio, El Lapiz No Tiene Punta, Bella Union de Trinidad, and Si Te Contara.

In 1998, after the death of Félix Reina, flutist René Orlando Beltrán assumed the leadership of the band. This latest production adds new material to its already large repertoire and includes tunes from the traditional trova and nueva trova, as well as pieces from the Afro-Cuban folklore continuing in the traditions of the danzón, son, chachachá, guaracha and the bolero. Assembled in the traditional charanga format, the band features 4 violins, a flute, a rhythm section, and 3 vocalists (Guillermo Cabrera, Antonio L. Morales, and Ernesto Oviedo Laportilla). With a total of 12 tracks, Estrellas Cubanas delivers a tasty mix of some of its more traditional compositions with the addition of a few trendy tunes. (GR)

FITO REINOSO

Ya Llegamos

(Sono Rei)

Since arriving in the San Francisco Bay Area, Felix Fito Reinoso has established himself as a sonero mayor with potent original songs sung in a raspy tenor voice seasoned by the years. On Ya Llegamos, his self-produced sophomore outing, the Havana-born singer, composer, bandleader explores a variety of themes. The opening tracks--Adios Amigo and Ya Llegamos--speak to his departure from Cuba in the 1980s. Done in uptempo dancehall grooves with witty inspiraciones, they cushion the introspective and heartfelt messages. Throughout, inventive thinking is highlighted: Te Dicen Loca with nice samba-inflected twists; El Jefe de la Banda, a duo with Felix Baloy of the Afro-Cuban Allstars; Cha Cha Cha Canto a Jorrin, a lush charanga featuring members of La Moderna Tradicion; Gordo y Que, a fun ode to heavy eaters featuring Fito's daughter Genesie Reinoso; Como Baila Chana, a beautiful reworking of Reinoso's guaracha, and No Se Donde Estas, a poetic bolero arranged by Omar Sosa and Hermanos Latin Jazz, which showcases the virtuosity of his special guests --trumpeter Julio Padrón, band members of Manolín (El Médico de la Salsa), Sandy Pérez, formerly of Los Muñequitos of Matanzas, and percussionist-singer José Luis Gómez. It's a great record, not perfect, with wavering intonation, but the spirit of the music carries this album with horn hooks galore, cool coros, a driving rhythm section and a street litany of improvised verses whose wisdom creates community using salsa Cubana and timba as forums for raw callejero expression. (JV)